From cobblestoned Portuguese alleys navigated one-handed with a stroller to reef dives in Fiji, this is where the trips live. Told through words and whatever camera happened to be with me.
I shoot film and digital and travel with family in tow. These posts are part travel journal, part photography log, and part love letter to the places that made an impression. I hope they make you want to go see them for yourself.
When I booked a week away to the Island of Maui, a project dawned on me to abandon the temptation to capture the vivid colours of the island and seek instead to document it as I first saw it through the monochrome images shared by explorers and tourists generations before me.
The last leg of our trip was here in Lisbon. We had several days to explore the city and the idea was to do so on foot, rambling the narrow and hilly cobbled streets with one hand on the stroller and the other with the camera. No plan of action here, so let’s see what the city decides to show us!
The last leg of our trip was here in Lisbon. We had several days to explore the city and the idea was to do so on foot, rambling the narrow and hilly cobbled streets with one hand on the stroller and the other with the camera. No plan of action here, so let’s see what the city decides to show us!
Nazare sits on a steeply sloping hillside terminating at a broad crescent beach adjacent the ocean. The beach you see in front of the bulk of the town is not in fact where the world-famous big-wave surfing takes place. That area rather, is on the opposite side of a steep rocky outcrop that extends 500m or so into the sea on the north end of town. But for starters we thought we’d tour the city and see what it has to offer.
It's a bit of a tricky beach. And what I mean by that is, on the first day one could wade out through the surf quite some distance before it got above thigh height. The waves were of a decent size and surf-board rentals and lessons are available here which certainly suits the character and conditions of the waters. On the second day, I tried the same wade into the ocean and got a bit of a surprise…
As we approach the area the dam becomes visible towering over a small valley. The road soon changes from paved to dirt, but nothing most cars can’t handle. We snake along it’s winding path and turn off onto a steep sided valley that surrounds one of the hundreds of coves around the perimeter of the lake. At the end of the road we see the large main house appear through the trees and are immediately greeted by one of the smiling hosts, Filipa, as we arrive.
The Algarve seemed the logical choice for starting our trip to Portugal. It was well recommended by friends, and since we were arriving in early September, the timing gave us the best chance of experiencing some beach-worthy weather to kick off the relaxation.
The sun came out for us in Palma and we got a taste of the heat that makes Mallorca such a popular destination for travellers. It’s here we’d get a bit of real beach-time, plenty of walking, cold drinks and al fresco dining.
It didn’t seem right to do a trip to Mallorca without staying at a beachside resort of some kind, so we decided to take advantage of shoulder-season rates to stay at the Grupotel Molins, located along one of the crystal blue bays of the resort town of Cala St. Vincenc.
The views from town are magnificent, especially looking back across the valley at the various and ancient terraced orchards and olive groves. There are a number of hikes up and down available to explore, but with the stroller in tow we decided to stick to the cobble stones streets which were a steep enough challenge on their own.
Soller was buzzing with activity when we were there. While there were plenty of tourists, it’s clear that there is a large local community here and the buzz of them going about their day creates a great vibe in the town center. While bigger than Deia, Soller is by no means large, and exploring it on foot is the best way to go for the most part, especially with the aforementioned narrow lanes.
It was a last minute idea. From intention, to booking, to flight in less than two weeks. It’s not often one makes a significant career change, and this one warranted a few weeks abroad to rest and reset. Mallorca was not an obvious destination for us, coming from Vancouver where Hawaii or Mexico might be the more frequented, and frankly closer, destinations.
One Camera, one lens, and one film stock. That’s where we started this first photographic sojourn to Japan. A fitting assignment, I think, considering the countries’ own reputation for blending the new with the old. What follows is a few of my learnings for would-be film photography travelers.
I was at times perhaps too stingy with my shooting, and other times I felt compelled to snap a photo of some okonomiyaki. In time I’d develop a rhythm (and tendency to overpack) to my shooting that freed me to shoot unencumbered by worry of running out out of film.
After a long day of travel getting here, we lay on our comfortable mattresses preparing to sleep when the deep hum of a gong reverberated from the forest and filled the room. It was a low tone that you feel more so than hear and one that had the hairs standing on the backs of our necks.
A guide to Kanazawa, Japan—Kenroku-en gardens, historic districts, incredible seafood, and a slower, more local side of Japan.
Admittedly the first few days of this trip were spent shooting sparingly, driven by the neophyte’s underlying fear of depleting a limited film stockpile.
“Does it work"?” I asked, pulling the metal brick out of a dusty cupboard. “Find a battery for it and find out!” My Dad replied. And like that, sometime in early 2017, my curiosity for film/photography was reborn.
The first adventure of every Viwa dive excursion is crossing its barrier reef. There’s a small gap forming a channel about a hundred meters off-shore that the boat has to blast through in order to get to the deeper waters beyond.
The sandy beach here is amazing and really the star of the show on Viwa. Soft-white and stretching the length of the resort, I could walk end to end all day long…
The first time I dive a new area I find my focus starts out on the big picture - landscapes, colours, and the contours of the seafloor/reef. At the Rainbow Reef, that big picture immediately sends you into sensory overload.
While the villages’ appearance was spartan by Western standards, it’s integration with its environment and the sheer abundance therein is nothing sort of astounding. Everything the Vunikurans need grows all over the village grounds, on the mountain slope behind, or in the sea.
They don’t call it remote for nothing. Located on the far Eastern shore of Vanua Levu, in a bay that was once home to a palm tree plantation, The Remote Resort forms a wonderfully secluded oasis.
The Road to Hana and beyond — narrow roads, raw coastline, and the question every traveler faces: turn back, or keep going?